Images of Google PowerMeter, No Business Model

Curious about what Google’s disruptive online energy management tool Google PowerMeter’s gonna look like on your iGoogle homepage? This afternoon the team behind the search engine giant’s answer to the smart grid showed off some images of the PowerMeter iGoogle gadget (more screen shots below, both in expanded form and integrated in the iGoogle homepage). It’s pretty similar to what other Google tools look like, but it’s interesting to see the peaks and troughs of the energy data being integrated into such a routine format (the beginning of the new Internet of energy?)

Google’s Tom Sly also told the listeners on a call held to discuss the tool — among them utilities, device makers and press — that because Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org is running the PowerMeter program, the company is not developing a business model for it. Google is not charging the utility, the customer or the third-party device maker for PowerMeter data access, said Sly, which he said puts the company in a unique position to focus on innovation.

While Google recently announced utility partners for PowerMeter, Sly said it would be announcing more partners in the future. The Google PowerMeter team is also working on adding the ability to manage multiple data streams (not just one stream from a smart meter, but many streams from different smart appliances).